Pregnant mothers died from drug overdoses and homicides in “substantially larger” numbers during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic than the previous year, according to a new study.
Five public health researchers published the study Wednesday in JAMA Network Open, having analyzed death certificate records for 4,528 women aged 15-44 between Jan. 1, 2018, and Dec. 1, 2020. They found that pregnancy-associated deaths from drugs and homicide increased from 2019 to 2020 at faster rates than from 2018 to 2019.
“These trends may reflect multiple population stressors during 2020, including COVID-19 pandemic-related economic strain, the murder of George Floyd, and the fentanyl epidemic; our analyses did not address causality,” the researchers wrote.
The study analyzed only deaths from April to December of each year, reflecting the onset of COVID quarantines in March 2020.
It found that 205 pregnant mothers died from drug-related causes in 2018, 246 in 2019 and 365 in 2020. The rate of pregnant mothers dying from drug-related causes grew from 7.1 for every 100,000 live births in 2018 to 8.7 in 2019 and 13.4 in 2020.
Pregnancy-related deaths from homicides tallied 89, 109 and 147 during those same three years, respectively. The rate of pregnant mothers who died from homicide increased from 3.1 for every 100,000 births in 2018 to 3.8 in 2019 and 5.4 in 2020.
Over the same period, the study found that pregnancy-related deaths from suicide decreased slightly.
But with women neglecting health appointments after pandemic quarantines began in March 2020, many likely died of these three causes months after giving birth. The study could not capture that number, the researchers said.
“Although pregnancy is considered an opportunity for screening and prevention related to physical, mental, and behavioral health, our data suggest that such opportunities were missed for hundreds of pregnant people during the pandemic,” they wrote.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.
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